Can't Fail Strategies to Cultivate Your Career Advancement

Here are six strategies to help ramp up your public profiles and accelerate your personal and professional growth.

1) Write down your strengths and successes. 
Perhaps you’ve been a valuable team player, contributed a key idea to a project, or saved your organization substantial time or money. Write down all of your achievements. Then think about how the skills you brought to them can be a launching pad for future growth.

2) Solicit constructive feedback. 
Mull over your most recent performance review. Talk to your boss about where and how you can improve. Take his or her advice and work to make the suggested improvements. This is a great way of showing that you’re serious about upping your game. Additionally, consider taking on assignments that others are avoiding.

3) Decide on a new stretch goal. 
Write it down, making sure it builds on your strengths. Create a deadline for completing the goal. (We are all more likely to achieve goals we write down, especially ones we set a timetable for.)

4) Treat mistakes as learning experiences. 
The point is not to be right 100% of the time. It’s to see mistakes as learning experiences on which to build. Look for opportunities to test your limits; this will teach you to learn what doesn’t work, recover, then quickly learn what does work.

5) Sit up front and speak up.
Most people sit in the back of the room to avoid bringing attention to themselves. By sitting up front, you’re more visible to organizational leaders speaking at the podium. And don’t stay silent for fear of being “wrong.” Stating your opinions will win you recognition as someone whose ideas are worth listening to.

6) Never let yourself feel "less than." 
No one is perfect. Always think and speak about yourself in positive terms. Believe in yourself; believe you can achieve whatever you set your mind to—and allow that perception to become your reality!